Earlier quoted context omitted.
Er, I think you meant to compare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6gmgExmJbM
I'm not sure what you're trying to show me. Robotron has 8x more stuff going on in any shot.
That does not make Robotron good.
When Game Development Stinks
71–80 of 98 posts
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know how any body game make a game profitable at £2.99
By selling many copies? http://superhexagon.com
By selling a lot of copies AND putting barely anything into it. Super Hexagon is bereft of actual content and actually has very little actual game in it. It is a perfect example of how to make money from not much work.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#73A decade ago when I first released my shareware app for users of eBay, I actively participated in a video game forum. Why a game forum? I wanted my software to feel fun and exciting to use, and in 2003, nearly all software I could think of had a crappy user interface and user experience. Cas complained in many forum threads about about how hard and unprofitable it was to finish a game. I remember writing a particular…
Indeed, if it weren't for people like us, there wouldn't be most of the games that people love playing today. There'd be no Minecraft, no FTL, no Terraria, no Binding of Isaac.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#74Why would the author expect big sales from a polished version of a 30 year old genre? Look at his competition: Here is another $4.99 game in the action/indie category http://store.steampowered.com/app/211400/ The recent big indie hits are genre defining or at least have very unique gameplay. (minecraft, ftl, etc)
When we were making Ultratron for Steam we knew that it wasn't ever going to actually sell much, but that was not the point of the article. The point of the blog post I wrote was simply to say, it takes this long and this much money to make a game like this, and it earns about this much money, so we're not going to do them any more. I think it's a shame because it scratches an itch that just isn't scratched anywhere…
Ah. Thanks for clarifying. For very small markets, like classics or nostalgic, maybe you could up the price because your potential buyers are price elastic?
If you are selling to 10,000 older, rich guys who crave old school arcade action, why not sell at a $40 price point?
That's the only solution I can think of that other niche markets do to stay alive (collectibles, etc).
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
By selling many copies? http://superhexagon.com
By selling a lot of copies AND putting barely anything into it. Super Hexagon is bereft of actual content and actually has very little actual game in it. It is a perfect example of how to make money from not much work.
That's not cricket, old chap, to knock the competition.
Super Hexagon has highly polished gameplay and a stellar soundtrack, not to mention being very, very fun. IMO Terry Cavanagh knew exactly what to leave out.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#76To me, and this is strictly from the POV as a gamer: I hate when games fail to tell a decent story. I lose interest almost immediately.
Screw visuals and focus on story. I can even accept crap gameplay if the story compels me.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#77The comparison to music is apt. I have a friend who went through the 90's in a grunge band and had a small modicum of success (they released three albums) and said he's glad he's not in the music industry now. He described the music industry these days in one word: saturation. Actually, an over saturation of shitty music. These days, it really takes an effort to find good music. It's the same thing with the gaming in…
Right now is the best time to be a musician ever. Recording tools are cheap, distribution is virtually free.
Being a fan of music has never been as awesome as now. Access to new music is virtually free and instant.
It takes much less effort to find good music now than ever before. I can just hit up TasteKid and listen to new music on Youtube, where I get further recommendations, which I can instantly listen to, too.
There was a short period in the history of recorded music where you could make a lot of money from it because making copies and distributing them was hard. This is not the case anymore, and as a musician and a fan of music I can't be thankful enough for that.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#78I worked in the game industry between 2000 and 2006, mostly on MMO titles. This is a simple supply and demand problem. There is a HUGE supply of young males who want to work in the gaming industry, and the customer demand for games of the quality which they can supply is insufficient. This is why you have so many gaming schools that can't actually take all the potential students who want to join, but very few of the…
"so many great games that I can't possibly play them all"
Are there? Outside of the shooters.
For example, I'm a fan of turn based strategies but I don't see much of those in the recent years. And not much other kind of strategies either. Blizzard does it cool and CIV still survives, but this isn't "a lot" compared to the times that were.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#79Re: When Game Development Stinks
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
By selling a lot of copies AND putting barely anything into it. Super Hexagon is bereft of actual content and actually has very little actual game in it. It is a perfect example of how to make money from not much work.
That's not cricket, old chap, to knock the competition. Super Hexagon has highly polished gameplay and a stellar soundtrack, not to mention being very, very fun. IMO Terry Cavanagh knew exactly what to leave out.
I've met Terry personally, and I didn't knock Super Hexagon. I've just said it how it is: Super Hexagon (and VVVVVV for that matter) are examples of how to make games on the cheap.
We don't do that, though. We put AAA polish and content into every title.